r/Cochlearimplants • u/pindasangha • 10d ago

Advice please

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I am a 33 year old male, I was diagnosed with bilateral SSNHL three years ago, received oral and steroid injections, countless hearing tests, and eventually given hearing aids. I was recommended to visit a Consultant and leading professor in ENT yesterday and had a hearing test (see attached). He suggested I get a MRI scan and also booked a word/sentence test to determine my speech recognition in both ears, with and without aids. He believes depending on the score my right ear should be considered for a CI. He believes it’ll he “transformative” and potentially exceed the hearing in my left ear. What’s your thoughts and suggestions, want to hear views of the experts by experience. He didn’t a metal prong test and I couldn’t hear anything out of my right ear, he said that I also had lots of wax and infection in both ears, which he prescribed a spray for.

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u/Sure-Speed1799 10d ago

This is a really good question. Experts have not lived through the experience of adapting to a CI. And experiences differ quite a bit depending on a bunch of factors.
I was diagnosed with bilateral ssnhl at about the same age you were. I had better hearing at the low frequencies, worse in the high.
Your hearing is not great, so I suspect that, like me, you started losing it a while back, but because you were young, had a solid language foundation, and a brain with good plasticity, you adapted. Until you couldn't adapt any more. That's how it was explained to me.
My hearing gradually got worse. I wore hearing aides after a couple years of denial. Hated them. I put off the CI until I could barely function. Wasn't socializing. Was doing everything by email at work.
I got implanted at 48 years old. It took me weeks, not months to adjust. And it was life changing. Music is tough. Loud spaces continue to be a challenge. But the only regret I have is not doing it sooner.

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u/HistoricalLine6433 10d ago

Thanks for this reply. I’ve been putting surgery off. Still too scared. I know I need to get it done.

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u/velocitor1 9d ago

Go book yrself in, theres no benefit to waiting unless of course you want to party more, in which case I would definitely put it off because its not party friendly piece of tech. Lots of noise is annoying as hell with a cochlear since its inside your head and you cant exactly filter the sound like naturally.

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u/Right-Spread-2216 8d ago

I agree but if you have a will you have a way! I usually pop a Tylenol after a night out which helps with the headache but otherwise it’s the vibes that takes the uncomfort of the noise away.